it depends on the light conditions, sometimes white is better for visibility, but overall, I'd always choose black or a dark decoy over a white decoy. Most of the decoys we send to new zealand are pacific blacks or hybrids with an occasional blonde mallard in the bunch. Are the pacific black ducks part of that limit or are they trying to thin out the mallards with the high limits?

Hard to say. The waterfowl biologists who do aerial surveys of waterfowl numbers tell us black is the most visible.The pictures I've seen from these surveys (I work for a state waterfowl biologist) show black and white about equal.What I see myselft when I'm scouting tells me white is the most eye-catching.

I'd have to go with black, since there are more species of ducks that look dark on the water than look white....and virtually all hens, here in the US, look dark. That said, I'd cover my bases and go with 80% black, 20% white....which is what I see on the marsh with live birds.